Wine rack

ABSTRACT

A rack for storing wine comprising modules that can be assembled to provide the capacity desired. Each module is a structure including spaced vertical side panels and a bottle supporting shelf between the panels which is in the form of an inverted V as viewed from the front of the structure. Cylindrical shaped bottles of various sizes are stably supported on the shelves.

United States Patent 1 Mraz 1 1 Se t. 17 1974 [541 WINE RACK FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [76] Inventor: David Mral, 90 Harrison -71,140,854 3/1957 France 2 17 19 au a 0,C 94965 513,267 8/1952 Belgium217 19 [22] Filed Mar 19 1973 1,385,913 12/1964 France 206/65 E [21]Appl. NO-I 3 2, 9 Primary ExaminerRoy D. Frazier AssistantExaminer-Abraham Frankel [52] U S Cl 211/49 R 211/74 2l7/l9 Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Flehr, Hohbach, Test,

51 Int. Cl. A47b 73/00, A47f 7/00 Albrmo Herbert [58] Field of Search312/45, 42; 211/49 R, 49 D,

206/65 E; 224/45 AB, 45 A, 48 A; 229/28 BC References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS ABSTRACT A rack for storing wine comprising modules thatcan be assembled to provide the capacity desired. Each module is astructure including spaced vertical side panels and a bottle supportingshelf between the panels which is in the form of an inverted V as viewedfrom the front of the structure. Cylindrical shaped bottles of varioussizes are stably supported on the shelves.

3 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures WINE RACK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates generally to racks for supporting bottled wineand other beverages.

It is well known that bottled wine should be stored in an inclined ortilted position for proper preservation and aging. Various racks forthis purpose have been made for commercial and home use. Particularlywith respect to racks for home use, the ones available have not beenadaptable for cylindrical bottles of various sizes and diameters,including full size or one-fifth gallon (3 to 3 /2 inches diameter),half size or one-tenth gallon (2V8 inches diameter), champagne (3%inches diameter), magnum or two-fifth gallon (4 /8 inches diameter),jeroboam or four-fifth gallon (5% inches diameter), half gallon (5inches diameter), and full gallon (6 /2 inches diameter). Simple flattilted shelves are not satisfactory because the bottles are not securelyheld and may roll about as bottles are introduced or removed. Anotherobjection to the racks available for home use is that they do notfacilitate storing the bottles in groups according to their contents,and they cannot be readily enlarged as to capacity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, it is an object of the invention toprovide a wine rack suitable for home use which will conveniently storebottles in groups.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wine rack which willstore bottles with positional stability, irrespective of the number ofbottles stacked upon a shelf.

Another object is to provide a rack comprising modules which can beassembled to provide the capacity desired.

In general, the invention consists of one or more structures eachcomprising side panels that are laterally spaced and verticallydisposed, and a bottle supporting shelf extending between the panels.The shelf consists of wall portions which are disposed in the form of aninverted V as viewed from the front of the structure. The structure isdimensioned whereby cylindrical bottles of varying sizes can besupported upon the shelf with good positional stability. Two or moresuch structures can be assembled together to provide a compositestructure having the capacity desired.

Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from thefollowing description in which the preferred embodiment has beendescribed in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view illustrating awine rack incorporating the present invention and comprising in thisinstance two modules.

FIG. 2 is a front view of one of the modules.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one of the modules.

FIGS. 4 10 are elevational views schematically illustrating varioussizes and numbers of bottles stored within a module.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a wine rackconsisting of two modules A and B which are of like construction. Asillustrated in FIGS. 1 3, each module consists of laterally spacedvertical and parallel side panels 11, together with a shelf 12 extendingbetween the side panels. A back panel 13 is also shown extending betweenthe rear edges of the side panels 11 and secured to the same. All ofthese panels can be made of suitable material such as wood. The bottlesupporting shelf 12 is made of two wall portions 12a which are planarand of like dimensions. As shown in FIG. 2, these wall portions aredisposed in the form of an inverted V. One edge of each wall portion 12ais suitably secured to the adjacent side panel 11 as, for example, byproviding a groove 14 in each side panel within which the adjacent edgeof the wall portion 12a fits, with the two parts being held together asby glue or cement. The other two edges of the wall portions 12a aresecured together along the junction line 15. As shown in FIG. 2, theincluded angle between the wall portions 12a is such that as thestructure is viewed from the front the wall portions appear as aninverted V. In practice it has been found satisfactory to employ anincluded angle of the order of Also in practice it has been foundsatisfactory to space the vertical side panels about 6% inches apart.

In addition to providing an inclination of the wall portions 12a to thehorizontal from the junction 15 to the side panels, it is desirable toprovide some tilting between the front and rear ends of the shelf asshown in FIG. 1. In other words, the wall portions 12a are slopeddownwardly from the front of the structure toward the back. This tiltingprovides a positioning of the bottles which is best suited for winepreservation and aging. Also it compensates for the fact that the bottomends of the bottles are slightly larger in diameter than the upper ends.In practice this angle can be of the order of 7.

The upper end of each module is shown provided with suitable means suchas dowels 16 which are adapted to interfit holes 17 in the side panelsof the module which is seated upon the same. This provides sufficientattachment between stacked modules to prevent lateral displacement.Modules can also be placed side by side, in which event they can besecured together by suitable means, such as bolts or screws inserted inthe side panel holes 19.

For the purpose of providing ample ventilation, the lower edges of theside panels 11 are shown cut away as indicated at 21. Also the upperedges of the panels are shown cut away as indicated at 22, and this maybe rectangular as illustrated. For the same purpose the back panel 13 isdimensioned whereby it terminates short of the upper and lower edges ofthe side panels 11. Likewise, the shelf 12 is dimensioned whereby itterminates short of the back panel 13.

FIGS. 4 10 illustrate how bottles of various sizes can be stored withineach module. FIG. 4 illustrates the storage of several standard fullbottles (one-fifth gallon). It will be seen that the lower two bottlesof the stack rest upon the wall portions 12 whereby the inclination ofthese wall portions tends to urge the bottles against the side panels11. This not only provides for positional stability with respect to thetwo lowermost bottles, but also privides stability for the additionalbottles shown stacked upon the lower bottles. FIG. 5 shows the storageof half bottles. Here the two lowermost bottles are likewise supportedupon the sloped wall portions 12a, and by virtue of the sloping of thesewall portions, they are urged against the side panels and thus retainedwith positional stability. All of the bottles stacked upon the twolowermost bottles likewise have complete positional stability.

FIG. 6 illustrates the stacking of champagne bottles. Here because oftheir diameter, which is greater than one-half the distance between theside panels, the lowermost bottle only rests upon one of the sloped wallportions 120, but this imparts positional stability, which is likewiseimparted to the additional bottles stacked upon the lowermost bottle.

FIG. 7 shows the stacking of two magnum bottles. Here again thelowermost bottle, because of its diameter, rests upon one of the wallportions 12a, and the second bottle rests upon the first. Here againboth bottles have positional stability.

FIG. 8 illustrates a larger bottle, namely one of the jeroboam type,which is resting upon the shelf but slightly to one side of the junctionor apex 15. Here positional stability is provided for the same reasonexplained above, and the same is true of any additional bottles whichare stored on top of the first bottle. However, the vertical dimensionsof each module may be insufficient to take more than one such jeroboambottle.

FIG. 9 shows the storing of two half-gallon bottles which are likewiseof a diameter substantially greater than one-half the spacing betweenthe side panels. Here both bottles have positional stability because ofthe character of the supporting shelf.

FIG. 10 illustrates a full gallon bottle or jug being stored upon theshelf, and the diameter in this instance is such that the bottle issupported by the junction 15. Positional stability is imparted herebecause the diameter of the bottle is nearly equal to the spacingbetween the side panels.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the present inventionprovides a wine rack having a number of desirable features.Particularly, when used in the home it will conveniently store bottlesin groups. Each module used may store bottles of a different size, butin each instance, because of the character of the supporting shelf,positional stability is imparted to all of the bottles. The capacity ofthe rack can be varied to suit the requirements simply by stackingmodules upon each other, or by disposing modules or stacks side by side,with attachment between the side panels.

Instead of making use of modules that can be assembled to make acomposite structure having a plurality of supporting shelves, myinvention can be incorporated in a single structure comprising laterallyspaced vertical panels and two or more vertically spaced shelves of thetype described between the panels.

I claim:

1. A rack for storing wine bottles of varying sizes comprising astructure including planar parallel panels spaced laterally andextending vertically, the space between the panels being accessible fromthe front of the structure, bottle supporting shelf means extendingbetween the side panels and secured to the same, said shelf meanscomprising two like-dimensioned planar wall portions extending from nearthe front to near the back of the structure, each wall portion havingone edge secured to the adjacent side panel and its other edge securedto the corresponding edge of the other wall portion along a junctionline disposed midway between the side panels, the wall portions beinginclined downwardly from the junction line to the adjacent correspondingside panel whereby, as viewed from the front of the structure, the wallportions are disposed as an inverted V, said shelf means serving tosupport wine bottles laid upon the same, the said inclination of eachwall portion causing a bottle laid upon the same to assume a stableposition in contact with both the wall portion and the correspondingside panel, the structure providing an unobstructed space extendingabove the shelf means having a horizontal width corresponding to thespacing between the side panels and a height greater than saidhorizontal width, said space serving stably to accommodate bottlesdisposed upon bottles that are laid upon the shelf means.

2. A wine rack as in claim 1 in which said structure consists of atleast two modules adapted to be assembled with one module on top of theother.

3. A wine rack as in claim 1 in which the included angle between thewall portions of the shelf as viewed from the front of the structure isof the order of 120, each wall portion and the junction line being alsotilted downwardly from the front of the structure to the back thereof.

1. A rack for storing wine bottles of varying sizes comprising astructure including planar parallel panels spaced laterally andextending vertically, the space between the panels being accessible fromthe front of the structure, bottle supporting shelf means extendingbetween the side panels and secured to the same, said shelf meanscomprising two like-dimensioned planar wall portions extending from nearthe front to near the back of the structure, each wall portion havingone edge secured to the adjacent side panel and its other edge securedto the corresponding edge of the other wall portion along a junctionline disposed midway between the side panels, the wall portions beinginclined downwardly from the junction line to the adjacent correspondingside panel whereby, as viewed from the front of the structure, the wallportions are disposed as an inverted V, said shelf means serving tosupport wine bottles laid upon the same, the said inclination of eachwall portion causing a bottle laid upon the same to assume a stableposition in contact with both the wall portion and the correspondingside panel, the structure providing an unobstructed space extendingabove the shelf means having a horizontal width corresponding to thespacing between the side panels and a height greater than saidhorizontal width, said space serving stably to accommodate bottlesdisposed upon bottles that are laid upon the shelf means.
 2. A wine rackas in claim 1 in which said structure consistS of at least two modulesadapted to be assembled with one module on top of the other.
 3. A winerack as in claim 1 in which the included angle between the wall portionsof the shelf as viewed from the front of the structure is of the orderof 120*, each wall portion and the junction line being also tilteddownwardly from the front of the structure to the back thereof.